Tides Restaurant & Pub – 2B Wilson Road – Nahant, MA. 01908 – (781) 593-7500
Open for lunch and dinner at 11:30am. Closed Thanksgiving and Christmas
website: http://www.tidesnahant.com/home.html
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We just returned from a fantastic trip to the Greater Boston area and decided to visit Marblehead, MA. and just chill driving along the shore, stopping wherever the spirit moved us to stop. It was one of those days which draws you to the area – sun, warm, some wind – but not a lot.
We passed Marblehead and were driving along sometimes seeing the water and sometimes passing houses thinking we were moving away from the coast. We saw a couple walking their two dogs as we neared a dead end and stopped to ask for their recommendation of a place to eat. Their suggestion was “Tides” – a restaurant we passed just minutes before. They were sort of hesitant to suggest Tides because they knew the previous owners and didn’t know what was happening at Tides in todays’ world. They cautioned us that it might not still be a great place to eat, but from past experience, before ownership changed, they said it was really fantastic.
Amazingly, it was an encounter with New Englanders who fit the stereotype. The “new owners” bought the place some 20 years ago. CHANGE is hard in this part of the world, but after having dinner at Tides we understand why. When you find a really fantastic place you don’t want it to change – just stay the same because how do you improve on perfection?
We sat on the sun porch and had a glorious meal. The menu said “don’t feed the birds”, but as soon as we sat down a sea gull joined us and so we had five for lunch instead of four and that great seagull helped to make our meal. He entertained us in ways he had apparently learned paid his benefactors back for their generosity. The restaurant was surrounded by rock outcroppings, sand and the ocean splashing against the rocks. With that accompaniment to oysters, shrimp, clams, lobster, haddock we were in heaven. We felt as though the fish had just been caught by the owners next door bringing it immediately into the restaurant to fulfill your order. That was our narrative – which is not true – but the location and the porch brought us to that imaginary happening.
Next time we will bring bathing suits because we were sitting right next to a public beach. On a holiday weekend the beach was sparsely populated so we know it is a great place to sun, swim, and paddle around whenever we go, with some certainty that we won’t be tripping over half-nude bodies lying side by side. It looked as though that very beautiful beach was peopled by the neighbors – people who lived close by.
The food was substantial, well cooked and seasoned just perfectly – well except for one of us who brings her Louisiana hot sauce in her pocket book for times like this. Each plate was enough for two so we brought our left-overs home and warmed them up for dinner the next evening. What a memory that brought back. We wondered if we could move next door and eat at Tides on a regular basis.
The wait staff was exceptional and they appeared whenever we looked around, sometimes anticipating what we were about to ask. Dessert was hot fudge sundaes. As we ate our dessert the smacking sounds should have embarrassed us, but it just made the desserts taste better.
All in all we recommend Tides whenever you are in the North Shore area. It is worth the stop or even if you have to drive a few miles out of your way – it is worth the drive.
There was a Keno Contest going on when we arrived and we were told they offer full service lottery in addition. As we waited for a table mesmerized by the view, the hostess told us about their Drink Menu – cocktails, 30 ice cold draft beers, a wide variety of bottled beers and a large wine list. People in the bar were watching a game and we were told they have over 20 HD TVs! That was all very nice, but we weren’t interested – the beach, sitting on that incredible sun porch, talking (and feeding) the sea gull which adopted us with really great food was what captivated us.
We will return!
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Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you. Please also tell us if you want your name as your byline or if you want your article to appear without your name.
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Dali Restaurant and Tapas Bar (A Review)
Monday, September 28th, 2009copyright Bettina Network, inc. and (Eska) 2009
415, Washington Street
Somerville, MA 02143.
(Corner of Beacon & Washington Sts)
Ph.: 617-661-3254 Fax 617-661-2813
Web: www.dalirestaurant.com
House: dinner, 5:30-11pm, Sunday noon
Phone: 617 661 3254 Fax 617 661 2813
A visit to the Dali Restaurant is appropriate both for a romantic evening for two or a lovely night for a group. Small private tables within their own compartments and larger tables in open areas make this possible. The detailed decor is a feast for the eyes (picture yourself inside one of Salvador Dali’s paintings).
Either way, prepare yourself for a festival of flavors. You can find traditional Spanish dishes such as paella, a rich rice stew seasoned with saffron into which might be mixed a wide range of vegetables, sausage, chicken, meat, and seafood (the possibilities are endless; I have three cookbooks on my shelf containing nothing but paella recipes).
The real specialty of the restaurant is the numerous tapas, small plates, that enable the diner to sample many different dishes to make a meal. Each member of your party should start with three or so, but it’s not likely that you’ll stop there. Perhaps some thinly sliced serrano ham, the finest in the world, and some marinated olives to whet your appetite. If you’re more adventurous, perhaps some octopus vinagrette. The wonderful thing about tapas is that you can stick mostly with your favorites, or be just a little adventurous, or maybe a lot. Never had stuffed squid in its own ink or pheasant or quail or rabbit or venison? Try them all in a single dining experience, each in a regional Spanish preparation. My personal favorites are braised rabbit in a red wine, juniper, and garlic sauce, and venison sausage in pomegranate sauce, but the tapas menu changes monthly, so
there’s almost always something new to try, even after repeated visits.
The Dali Restaurant features a delicious, all Spanish wine list, many at surprisingly affordable prices, to accompany your meal, but perhaps you’ll want to try their home-made sangria, which has little in common with the prepackaged products that you can find in your local wine store.
The staff are very attentive and efficient; they’ve always been anxious to make my visit an evening to remember. The Dali Restaurant is to be recommended both for an intimate evening for two or a party for multitudes.
(ed.note) a restaurant review by a Bettina guest who frequents the Dali Restaurant and Tapas Bar.
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Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.
Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.
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